Journey To Raftel Chapter 21 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Journey to Raftel! It’s time to say goodbye to Little Garden and continue the adventure! With the Eternal Pose to Alabasta, the crew doesn’t have to island hop! They can make a straight shot for Vivi’s homeland and stop Crocodile! Or will something else come up and derail their plans?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 21 – Sickness and Tyrant

With the party over, the Straw Hats began to prepare for their departure from Little Garden. Zoro and Sanji were butchering the dinosaurs they’d caught during their hunting contest for meat to take with them. Reiju, Vivi, and Carina were gathering fruit for the voyage and storing it on the Going Merry. Nami was checking the Eternal Pose to Alabasta to plot their course. Luffy was chatting with Broggy and Dorry while his copies took care of the ship and helping to load the meat that Sanji and Zoro had provided. They couldn’t leave without every bit of dinosaur meat that the Going Merry could hold, after all!

As Luffy was chatting with the two giants, Dorry and Broggy gave the Straw Hats a warning.

“The Island Eater swims the waters on the side of the island that you’ll need to sail through to leave this place.” Broggy informed the humans.

“It’s a massive fish type Sea King that can swallow small islands whole, hence its name.” Dorry continued and all of the humans looked perturbed, barring Luffy.

“So, how should we get past it?” Luffy asked the two giant warriors.

“It only emerges from the depths to gobble up ships that try to leave this island.” Broggy said of the Sea King’s habits.

“All you have to do is sail straight ahead. Broggy and I can guarantee your safety, so long as you sail straight ahead, no matter what.” Dorry promised their new friends.

“Just sail straight ahead?” Reiju cocked a delicate eyebrow at the instructions. “Towards a giant Sea King that can swallow islands?”

Luffy laughed brightly. “Sure thing!”

Nami looked at Luffy like he was crazy. “Luffy! We can’t just sail straight into the mouth of a giant Sea King!”

Zoro shrugged at Nami’s complaint. “It worked out with Laboon.”

“That’s entirely different!” Vivi and Carina both yelled at the swordsman with their teeth suddenly looking long and sharp.

Sanji twirled around the two with hearts in his eyes. “Don’t worry Vivi-chwan! Carina-swan! I’ll protect you both!”

It only took roughly thirty minutes of sailing down the large river running through Little Garden to get to the opposite side of the island. Dorry and Broggy made for excellent security as even the largest dinosaurs wouldn’t come near the two giants while they walked alongside the river, following their new friends’ ship.

“Remember, just sail straight!” Broggy said as he and Dorry stood at the mouth of the river where it emptied into the sea, the Going Merry sailing out into the shallows.

“No harm will come to our friends!” Dorry assured the Straw Hats.

As the Going Merry sailed further form the island, leaving the shallows behind, the ocean seemed to rise up all at once in front of the ship. Water cascaded down the massive body of the goldfish Seak King, throwing up strong waves just from the water it displaced by rising to the surface. Its large, bulbous eyes locked onto the Going Merry and it opened its massive mouth wide to swallow the caravel whole.

“Huh, so that’s an Island Eater?” Luffy tilted his head at the mountain-sized goldfish-like Sea King.

Nami, Carina, and Vivi were all goggling at the massive leviathan that had just risen from the sea and was drawing them into its gaping maw along with all the water around them. “HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?!” They yelled at Luffy as panic started to overtake them.

“There it is…” Dorry glared at the giant Sea King and readied his sword. “The Island Eater.”

Broggy readied his axe, taking it firmly in a double-handed grip. “You will give way! The honor of Elbaf is at stake!”

Both of the giant warriors’ muscles seemed to bulk up as they flexed and cocked back their weapons for the strongest attack they could launch. The air around Broggy and Dorry seemed to ripple as the blades of the axe and sword turned black.

“Straight ahead!” Luffy called out from his special seat atop Merry’s figurehead, his fist punched forward.

“This is insane! Turn the ship!” Nami cried out as the Going Merry was being drawn straight into the Island Eater’s mouth.

Zoro shook his head. “I think it’s a little late for that…”

“The only thing we can’t pierce is a snake soaked in blood!” Dorry declared as he swung his sword.

“Behold the legendary ‘Spear of the Giants of Elbaf’!!!” Broggy roared out as his axe was swung in perfect sync with Dorry’s sword.

The air shifted and two lines of just barely displaced seawater passed by either side of the Going Merry.

“Hakoku Sovereignty!!!” Dorry and Broggy bellowed loudly.

The Island Eater, a creature so massive it had never had to fear for its life before, floated on the surface unaware of its situation. The attack that it couldn’t even see blasted a massive hole straight through its body, killing it instantly. The powerful strike continued onwards, parting the ocean almost to the horizon, the sheer force of Broggy and Dorry’s ultimate attack had sliced the gargantuan Sea King in two! Dorry and Broggy smiled widely even as their weapons shattered, a hundred years of battle had worn them down too much to survive their greatest strike.

“So that’s the power of giants…” Sanji lit up a cigarette blindly, his eyes never straying from the two collapsing halves of the Island Eater and the large waves that rocked the Going Merry.

“Set sail!” Luffy pointed straight ahead as the Going Merry’s sails were lowered by his copies and caught the wind.

Vivi could only stare in shock at what she’d just witnessed. “Is this real?”

Carina placed her hand on the princess’s shoulder in solidarity. “I’m wondering that myself.”

“It’s crazy to think that there’s an entire country of giants after seeing what Dorry and Broggy can do on their own.” Reiju let out an absent chuckle as the ship sailed through the rough waters.

Zoro didn’t say a word, but his left hand was holding tightly to Wado’s hilt, staring at the massive Sea King that had been slain, cut in two, by the two giants. ‘Someday…’ He promised himself and the sword on his hip.

Luffy perked up as he leapt from the bow to the stern of the ship as easily as breathing, just to wave goodbye to their new two new giant friends as well. “Dorry! Broggy! It was awesome meeting you guys!” Luffy yelled back to the two waving giants. “You even got the fresh Sea King you wanted! Shishishishi!” Luffy had listened to the two giants over the course of the party and knew that they’d both missed the taste of Sea King.

“Gegyagyagyagya! What interesting humans have been born in the last hundred years we’ve been stuck here, eh Broggy?” Dorry laughed as he tossed the handle of his broken sword into the sea.

“Gyababababababa! Indeed, Dorry, some very interesting things that we’ve missed!” Broggy laughed just as loudly as his friend did while tossing the wooden haft of his destroyed axe into the sea as well.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to slice me off enough of that meat to last a while.” Dorry smirked as he waded into the sea on his way to drag at least half of the Island Eater into the shallows.

“I’ll help you!” Broggy smiled as he waded out beside Dorry. “Can’t have you taking all that Sea King for yourself!”

The animals and seagulls of Little Garden would be sharing in their newfound bounty soon. It was best to cut off as much as they could carry before the animals got to it. With any luck the other half of the goldfish-like Sea King; that was still pouring out a lake’s worth of blood into the ocean, would attract other Sea Kings that had avoided Little Garden ever since the Island Eater showed up. It should make for good fishing, for giants at least, later on.

The central volcano erupted, making both Broggy and Dorry look at it, but the two continued what they were doing instead of fighting. They’d called a truce for the rest of today; so they’d spend their time securing Sea King meat together, just like the old days.

-The Going Merry-

“That was a fun island!” Luffy smiled while sitting on his special seat atop Merry’s figurehead again. “Is Alabasta anything like that, Vivi?” He turned to her with excited eyes.

“Of course not!” Vivi shook her head at the Captain. “We don’t have dinosaurs, or giants, in Alabasta! Humans had a hard enough time colonizing Sandy Island in the ancient past, it would have been completely impossible if there were dinosaurs too.”

“Well, we’ll be able to see it soon enough.” Nami smiled as she sidled up next to Vivi and put her arm around the princess’s shoulders. The orangette navigator eyed the Eternal Pose that Vivi was holding and made sure their course was perfect. “We’ll get their much faster thanks to the Eternal Pose. We won’t have to worry about island hopping.”

“Thank you all so much, for taking me back home, and for helping me.” Vivi bowed to Luffy as he looked back at her. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“Eh, you don’t have to bow or anything.” Luffy shook his head. “Just fill my belly with all the tastiest meats you have after I smash in this dumb Croc’s face!”

“Of course!” Vivi beamed at Luffy. “I’ll have every meat dish that Alabastan cuisine has to offer made for you if you want!” She promised and then giggled when Luffy started drooling and his monkey tail practically wagged behind him.

“We’re friends, Vivi, that’s more than enough!” Luffy wiped away his drool to give her a big smile.

“For Vivi, but I still want to negotiate with the king too~!” Nami teased as she pulled Vivi into a side-hug.

“Nami…” Vivi played along with an exasperated sigh. The two women had become very close in only a short time.

“To Alabasta!” Luffy cheered and pointed forward.

-The Next Day-

The Going Merry was mostly silent for once; aside from the occasional calls from one of Luffy’s copies about a rigging change or something being spotted in the sea around them.

The reason for this near silence was for a new type of training.

Whack

“Gah!” Zoro held his head in pain with a blindfold over his eyes.

Sanji, holding the wooden baton that he’d hit Zoro with, had a little smirk on his face. “Come on, Marimo, that’s five in a row you’ve missed!”

Zoro growled at the chef, even if he couldn’t see him. “Just you wait, Dartbrow…”

While the two men growled at each other before resetting again. The women were working together as well to try and comprehend Observation Haki.

Wsh

“You’re pretty good at this, Vivi!” Carina praised the princess as Vivi managed to dodge a swing from the baton. “That’s three in a row.”

Nami was rubbing her head with a grimace, a blindfold over her eyes. “A lot better than me…”

Reiju giggled and kissed the top of Nami’s head. “You managed two in a row before, I’m sure you’ll catch up.” She prepared to swing the baton again.

Whack

Whack

“Ouch!” Vivi hadn’t managed to dodge that one.

“Ow! Damn!” Nami hissed out.

With Luffy, the Captain had two of his copies trying to hit him while he was sitting down and blindfolded. About half the time Luffy managed to tilt his head out of the way or lean aside. The old adage of ‘monkey see, monkey do’ might’ve been literal with Luffy thanks to his Devil Fruit. In the myths, Sun Wukong could learn almost any technique after seeing it only once. Luffy was clearly getting the hang of this training faster than any of his nakama.

Whack

Though he still didn’t have it down perfectly…so perhaps this was just another thing that Luffy would excel at because it was more instinct than knowledge-based.

-Going Merry ~ Two Days Later-

Carina opened her eyes as much as she was able, and waited for her vision to clear up. She was hot, too hot, even with the damp rag on her forehead to help her cool down. She’d been found gasping for breath in her bed this morning when Nami had come to wake her up for breakfast. She was running a fever that seemed to continuously climb higher and higher. Whatever this was, it clearly wasn’t the common Climate Sickness of the Grand Line. She blearily looked around at her friends, most of which were gathered around her bed.

“What is it at now?” Carina rasped out, looking at the thermometer in Nami’s hand. “Ugh… I still feel like shit.”

“It’s gone up again. You’re at one-hundred-four now.” Nami grimaced as she looked at the thermometer. “We need to get you to a Doctor as soon as possible.”

“We’ve changed course from Alabasta to Drum Island.” Vivi informed Carina with a gentle smile. “Drum has some of the best Doctors in the world; they’ll be able to take care of you.”

Sanji stepped forward with a tray in hand. “Are you hungry, Carina?” On the tray was a bowl of light soup. The Chef had put his all into making a gentle soup that packed as much nutrition into it as possible.

“I could eat…” Carina groaned as Nami and Vivi helped her sit up in bed. The thief sipped some water for a bit, and then slowly ate the soup that Reiju fed to her until it was gone. Nami re-wet the towel with cool water as Vivi helped Carina lay down again. Once the cool rag was placed on her forehead again the woman was out like a light.

“She’s falling asleep faster each time.” Luffy noted with a worried tone in his voice and his fists clenched at his sides. He couldn’t do anything in this situation and it was driving him mad.

“The good news is we’re on the fastest course to Drum Island. The weather cooled down considerably yesterday and it started snowing today. We’re definitely in a Winter Island’s stable climate now.” Nami placed her hand on Luffy’s shoulder to reassure him.

“Once we get to Drum, we can get professional medical help to treat Carina.” Vivi looked at the flushed, sweaty woman as she slept. The other woman’s breathing was still rough. “The faster we get her there the better her chances of survival. A temperature like hers is already approaching fatal levels.”

Reiju grimaced as she watched Carina sleep, her face red with the fever. “If it was poison, I could’ve taken care of it easily.” She’d even tried when Carina had been found in her bed suffering from whatever this was. Reiju had done so on the off chance that Carina had been poisoned by something on Little Garden. “Whatever this is…given the time it took to affect her, it’s either viral or bacterial.”

“Damn it, I feel useless.” Sanji grit his teeth as he took the tray and the empty dishware out of the Women’s Quarters. He refused to smoke inside with Carina in her condition. The entire crew had noticed the increase in his overall number of cigarettes per day though. The Chef was clearly worried about their nakama.

“We’ll stay with her, Luffy.” Nami assured her lover. “Can you go check with Zoro that we’re still on the right course?”

“Yeah, sure.” Luffy agreed sullenly as he turned to leave the Women’s Quarters. He closed the door gently, quietly behind himself so as not to disturb Carina. No matter how much agitation he was feeling, he would keep it to himself to make the trip as fast as possible.

“Are you seeing that?” One of Luffy’s copies called down to Zoro from the crow’s nest.

“I haven’t had a drop of booze since Carina got sick, but I still think I might be drunk.” Zoro called back, looking through a short telescope at something.

“What’s going on?” Luffy questioned as he walked over to Zoro. The swordsman didn’t say a word, simply passing the telescope over to Luffy and pointing.

“How’s he doing that? It’s kinda cool.” Luffy said as he looked at what appeared to be a man standing on the ocean. Even he didn’t have an ability that let him do that.

The man in question wore a checkered, jester-like green-blue costume with purple lining at the end of the sleeves. His pants were dark green. He also had a white winter cape with purple lining tied against his chest, and a light-brown bow and an arrow quiver slung on his back. He seemed to have a perpetually-sad expression on his face, made near-comical by the wavy shape of his lips.

“You think it’s a Devil Fruit of some kind?” Zoro asked as they sailed closer to the odd man.

“No.” Luffy shook his head, his eyes glowing golden. “He’s standing on something in the water.” His Fiery-eyes Golden-gaze saw the truth of the situation.

“Boy… Sure is cold huh?” The man spoke once the Going Merry was close enough for them to hear each other.

“It’s snowing, no shit it’s cold.” Zoro responded with a flat expression.

“You’re bad at starting conversations, Zoro.” Luffy pointed out with a small grin. It was the most positivity that he could feel with Carina in the condition that she was.

A split second later and the ocean moved.

The sea water exploded upwards off the starboard side of the large caravel. The Going Merry rocked violently from the sudden waves. A slew of cursing came from the kitchen and alerted everyone that Sanji wasn’t happy with what that might have done to Carina in her weakened state. The object that caused the eruption of water was clearly some manner of ship, with a gourd-like appearance and a giant mast sticking out of the top that was flying a Jolly Roger. As the Straw Hats watched, Sanji included as he kicked open the kitchen door in a rage to find out what was going on. With multiple clanking and clanging sounds the weird ship’s metal ‘shell’ opened to reveal a round, wooden body. Dozens of men stared down at them from the other ship, all of them decked out in the same outfit.

“Alright, what the hell is going on…?!” Nami’s angry tirade stopped as the sounds of guns cocking reached her ears. She exhaled with a hiss before staring dully at the man checking her out with lustful eyes. “You better take that out of my face before I turn you into charcoal.”

“Ha, don't get all eager, you foolish peasants.” The man that spoke had an annoying voice. Just the sound of it had eyes twitching among the Straw Hats, and that wasn't even counting the content of his statement. He was an overweight man with an unusual appearance. He had dark-violet hair and a cylinder-shaped jaw made up of tin plates. He was dressed in tin-plate armor and a hooded cape made from what looked like some kind of furry hippo. The rotund man was also wearing thick, brown gloves. On his lower half he wore a pair of purple and orange woolen shorts and a brown belt around his waist and his feet were covered by a pair of thick short boots.

He also happened to be eating a large hunk of meat off a sword. That he then bit in half and ate as well!

“My mouth hurts just watching that.” Reiju winced with every crunching sound that came from the weird man’s mouth.

“Five of you, huh?” The man said before blinking as he started counting the copies of Luffy around the Going Merry. “A lot of you…all the same?” He shrugged as he threw the hilt of the sword into his gaping mouth and crunched on it too. “Oh well, doesn't really matter. I have a question; do any of you have a Log Pose or an Eternal Pose to Drum Island? We've been searching for it for a while now.”

“No.” Nami lied to the man as easily as she breathed.

“Get off my ship.” Luffy was glaring at the fat man and his voice was starting to turn into a growl. “We’re in a hurry and you’re in the way.”

“I told you there wasn't a need to rush, right? If you don't have what we need we’ll just take your treasure and your ship instead.” He eyed Nami and Reiju up and down, making both women scowl at him. “You know what? I'll take the women too. If they have any others hiding on the ship, bring them as well. Get to it, men!”

“I said you’re in the way. Now you threaten my nakama and my ship?!” Luffy’s voice became more like an angry monkey’s loud screeching. “We don’t have time for this!” Luffy’s face became more monkey-like, large fangs and all, his body sprouted heavy fur and his tail lashed about. His staff shot into his hand and lengthened to its original size in an instant. With a jab, the fat man’s body locked up, unable to move as he was hit with the ‘body-freezing spell’. “GET OFF MY SHIP!!!” Luffy blurred and smashed the pirate off the ship with his Ruyi Jingu Bang, the man was a blink on the horizon a second later, if he was alive at all.

“King Wapol!” Every man from the other ship screamed in shock and terror.

“Your Majesty?!” The weirdo who had been standing on the water, along with another one who had a massive black afro screamed in shock. “KILL THEM ALL!” All of the soldiers aimed their weapons and prepared to fire, only to find out just how outclassed they were.

“The Captain told you to get the hell off our ship.” Zoro stated darkly. The swordsman almost seemed to flow through the soldiers in a continuous movement. When he came to a stop, dozens of the soldiers went down with blood flying from their bodies. Both Zoro and his cursed Kitetsu sword seemed to be emitting a deathly aura.

“Don’t. Disturb. The. Ladies!” Sanji lashed out with a kick at every word. Men went rag-dolling off the ship and into the cold ocean. Others hit the side of their own ship with sickening thuds and fell into the sea. It didn’t matter where they ended up, as long as they were off the Merry. Those were the Captain’s orders!

Soldiers from the larger ship tried to run across the gang plank to overwhelm the Straw Hats. Reiju intercepted them and her palms smashed each man in the face (the only visible skin exposed on their bodies) and left them all screaming seconds later as the poison she’d put on their skin seeped in and set off every pain nerve it came in contact with. Those unfortunate enough to get it in their eyes were blind in only a few seconds.

The man that had been eyeing Nami up at gunpoint suddenly found himself unbearably hot. So hot, in fact, that he burst into a localized inferno and was nothing more than a charred husk in mere seconds. The last thing he ever saw being Nami’s eyes glowing a bright yellow as fire erupted from her hair and her skin darkened, patterns that looked like tattoos made of glowing magma forming on the darker skin.

Luffy and all of his copies looked feral as they swarmed the larger ship and beat every man they came across with their fists, feet, tails, and staves. The screaming was loud, but the screeching of a large troop of feral Monkey Kings was MUCH louder. Parts of the large ship had holes punched straight through them, chunks of wood and metal raining down into the ocean. Most of the pirates didn’t even have the time to aim their rifles before they were smashed through the floor, a wall or straight off the ship and into the frigid waters below.

“We surrender!”

“We’re not soldiers!”

“We’re just Doctors, please!”

The cries of multiple men in scrubs rang out and the final one snapped Luffy and his copies from their feral rage. Luffy landed in front of the trembling group of twenty men. All of them stared up at the Monkey King as if he was a God of Death made flesh.

Luffy looked at the men as they babbled for their lives, his burning golden gaze picking out the truth in their statements. The golden glow was snuffed out and became a stone-cold look that shut up the twenty Doctors instantly. Luffy spoke as calmly as he could with his fur still standing on end and his anger bubbling beneath the surface. “I have a job for you, if you refuse, I’ll leave you on this sinking boat; do you understand?” Luffy gave them an ultimatum and waited for the men to answer, but all he got was twenty obedient nods. “Follow me and don’t do anything stupid, or it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

“Y-Yes.” The oldest of the twenty Doctors nodded even as he trembled in fear.

After they gathered as much medical equipment as they could carry in their packs, the Doctors were escorted off the burning, sinking ship single-file. They walked across the gang plank fully aware of the various copies of Luffy watching their every move. Once the Doctors were on board, the other ship’s gang plank was kicked off the Merry by Sanji.

The Going Merry continued to sail onwards before Nami, at the stern of the ship, held her hands above her head, fire and magma pouring forth from her palms to create a massive ball of molten rock. “Volcanic Bomb!” She launched the massive sphere with her Devil Fruit power, making it scream across the cold air.

BOOM

The odd ship of the defeated pirates exploded as the lava bomb hit it and then burst into its own miniature eruption. A large steam cloud rose high into the air behind the Going Merry as the burning remains of the ship sunk into the sea, boiling the seawater around it from the insane heat that Nami had made her attack.

Luffy looked at the dead men on the deck of his ship and noticed the weird archer guy and the guy with the large afro had both been taken down too. The afro man’s skin had a noticeable purple tint to it and veins were distended all over his face. If it wasn’t Reiju’s poison that had killed him, then it was definitely the imprint of Sanji’s shoe in the man’s chest. The archer’s bow had been sliced into thirds, and the man was missing his right arm below the shoulder. He’d probably bled out in short order…if Nami had let him, given that the man (along with several others) were no more than blackened, charred husks. Luffy felt nothing for them, however. They had attacked them, threatened his nakama, and his ship. They were Pirates attacking an unknown ship. This outcome should have been in the back of their minds at all times.

“Toss them overboard and wash off the deck before the blood stains it.” Luffy gave the order as Nami and Reiju moved to his sides to help him calm down. This was the longest that they’d ever seen Luffy in his Full-Beast Form before and his agitation was still clear. “You all follow me; I have a patient for you to see.” Luffy said as he led the twenty Doctors into the Women’s Quarters and to Carina. Vivi was at Carina’s bedside, her Peacock Slashers at the ready in case anyone had tried to break in during the attack.

“Luffy…” Vivi’s eyes locked with Luffy’s and the bluenette looked like she was searching for something within his eyes. She’d never seen him in his Full-Beast Form and clearly so agitated. When Luffy gave her a small smile, she returned it, finally seeing the man that she’d come to know again.

“This is my nakama, Carina.” Luffy informed the Doctors. “She started getting sick after we left Little Garden. The only thing we found on her was a bug bite that had swelled up and turned a dark red. Her fever has been steadily climbing and now she’s barely able to stay awake long enough to take care of her daily necessities. I need to know what she has and if you can treat her.”

“Yes sir, right away, we’ll begin the diagnosis and provide whatever treatment we can.” The lead Doctor bowed, followed by all of his compatriots. Luffy, Nami, Reiju, and Vivi watched the Doctors like hawks as they examined the unconscious Carina. Her temperature was checked, her eyes were opened and examined, and her pulse was taken and counted as well. The Doctors prepped their equipment and soon had Carina on an IV drip to provide hydration and nutrients.

There was much discussion among the Doctors as they tried to diagnose Carina’s sickness. Luffy didn’t understand half of it, but he hoped the Doctors that he’d basically kidnapped could treat Carina. The discussions among the Doctors continued, some proposed sicknesses only to be shot down immediately. Some suggestions seemed to be being considered, but as the talks went on fewer and fewer of them became possible as the sickness Carina had.

“C-Captain, sir, I’m afraid we can’t pin down your crewmate’s sickness. The symptoms are fairly common, but the bug bite, length of time, and rapid development of the symptoms don’t fit with any of our hypotheses. We’d need an expert on rare diseases to look at the young lady.” The Head Doctor informed Luffy with his head bowed low. The other nineteen Doctors all lowered their heads as well, hoping to avoid seeing the young man’s rage again.

“Can you keep her from getting worse?” Reiju questioned as she noticed Luffy’s face going stone-cold. She’d been able to keep up with a bit of their talk, having done some medical training while on the Baratie.

“Yes, yes, of course.” The Head Doctor’s shot upright as he rapidly nodded. “We can treat the symptoms, keep her stable, but the disease will still progress. All we’ll really be doing is buying the young woman more time.”

“That’s enough; we’re heading for Drum Island anyway.” Nami informed the Doctors.

The Head Doctor blinked at them. “You’re heading for Drum Island? That’s our homeland. In fact, up until he abandoned the throne to escape a group of terrifying Pirates, Wapol was the King.”

“I knew it; that was Wapol.” Vivi muttered as she thought back to her only interaction with the man. It was back when she’d been just a little girl, but the cruel man had not left a good impression on her.

“He was…not a good King.” The Head Doctor admitted, all nineteen other Doctors nodded in agreement. “If you are heading for Drum Island though; as long as she is still alive, Dr. Kureha may very well be able to correctly diagnose and treat the young lady. She’s an expert in all sorts of diseases, from common to even extinct sicknesses.”

Luffy’s eyes lit up with hope for Carina’s recovery. “Really?!”

“Yes, Dr. Kureha was studying Medicine when even I was just a child.” The old Head Doctor nodded. “If anyone can diagnose and treat your crewmate it would be her.”

One of the other Doctors spoke up. “It would be nice to be able to return home…”

“The people of Drum Kingdom have every right to be furious with us though.” Another sighed heavily. “We worked under Wapol exclusively to save our own skins. I have no doubt that we won’t receive a kind welcome.”

“We can at least try to make up for our wrongs! Every Kingdom needs Doctors, and Drum Kingdom is known for our Medical Knowledge! I refuse to let that die!” A different Doctor spoke up fiercely.

“You can do as you like once we actually get to Drum Island.” Luffy’s voice cut through the chatter like a knife. “But only after my nakama receives treatment, understand?”

The Doctors all bowed at once. “Of course, sir.”

Over the next two days the Straw Hats sailed as fast as they could towards Drum Island. Carina was being assisted with daily necessities by Nami, Reiju, Vivi, and the Doctors. Her condition hadn’t gotten any worse, thanks to the treatment provided by the Isshi Twenty, as the crew learned the twenty Doctors were called. Unfortunately, the sickness was still there, just as the Head Doctor had warned them. The crew only hoped that they’d reach Drum Island soon, so that they could find this Dr. Kureha and get Carina cured of whatever sickness she’d gotten back on Little Garden.

“Hey Captain…” Carina gave a tiny smile up at Luffy as she awoke and was able to at least see and think clearly. Her head still hurt a bit, but it was a lot better than it had been before Luffy had secured Doctors to help her. She still felt weak, so lying in bed was her only option without help. Both Luffy and Nami had taken to sitting at her bedside fairly often.

“Feeling any better, Carina?” Luffy asked her gently.

“Not any worse, at least.” Carina gave off a pale imitation of her normal laugh. “Sorry that I caused us to have to take a detour.”

Luffy shook his head. “Don’t be, ever, I’d order it every time if it meant you’d get better.” The Sun Wukong Man gently took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.

“Thank you, Luffy.” Carina was actually glad for the flushed cheeks her persistent fever caused right now. How embarrassing would it be for her if Luffy found out how much she was enjoying his attention? Maybe it was said fever, or the sickness as a whole, but she found a great amount of comfort from having Luffy so close to her.

“You’re going to be fine, Carina.” Nami assured her fellow thief with the best smile that she could give at the moment.

Carina tried to chuckle, but wasn’t able to make it out well. “I definitely will.” She gave a tiny smile to Nami. “Still have so many treasures to find and take, so many things left to steal…” Nami’s little smile brought more comfort to the sick Carina. “I still have to steal…your heart too.” Carina said as her eyes drifted shut.

Nami blinked at Carina’s words and wondered if they meant what she thought they did, or if it was just delirium talking for the feverish woman.

“We’ll be right here for the rest of the day, don’t worry about it.” Luffy smiled at her and Carina had a small smile form on her lips. She enjoyed his hand on hers and the gentle caress of his thumb on the back of her hand. She relaxed to the gentle swaying of the ship as it sailed and was quickly asleep again.

The next day, around noon, the Luffy copy in the crow’s nest spotted something on the horizon. Looking through the telescope the copy saw tall structures with flat tops. As the Going Merry sailed closer, the details became clearer. The structures weren’t structures at all. They were tall, cylindrical looking mountains. That was what the Doctors had said Drum Island looked like, which made the copy break out into a smile. “Land ho!”

“Nami?” Luffy questioned his lover as the orangette lined up the Eternal Pose with the island.

“That’s it! The Pose is pointing directly at it with no deviations! That’s Drum Island!” Nami smiled brightly as she beheld the island and Carina’s chance of getting cured.

“It’s really home…” The Head Doctor mumbled as he beheld the Drum Rockies in the distance. “We really made it back.” The rest of the Isshi Twenty all began to express their joy and relief at finally getting back to their homeland.

“Doctors. We have a patient to prep for transport.” Reiju said to the men with a tone colder than the snow falling on them. All twenty Doctors snapped to attention instantly. They’d learned over the journey not to question anyone on the ship; they were only being sheltered and taken back home because they were helping stabilize the sick, purple-haired woman.

As Drum Island got closer and closer, Luffy stared at the approaching island seriously. No matter what it took, Carina would get the treatment she needed. If they had to spend every Beri in the holds, so be it. If Luffy had to strike a deal with this Dr. Kureha, he’d do so. But they weren’t leaving Drum Island without a healthy Carina, no ifs, ands, or buts. A tension had been building up in Luffy ever since Carina had fallen ill. It was a feeling of powerlessness that felt like cold lead in his stomach. Maybe this Dr. Kureha would be willing to come with them? His crew needed a Doctor, this incident had shown him that in the most terrifying of ways. With all this built up tension, Luffy knew one thing for sure.

“I’m going to destroy this Croc bastard and save Vivi’s country.” Luffy promised himself with one of his fists tightly clenched and nearly shaking. His days of agitation directed solely at the one person that he knew deserved a beating.

Luffy didn’t know that Vivi was in ear shot, nor did he see the way her eyes lit up, even as tears appeared in the corners. The bluenette quickly wiped them away, even as a warm smile appeared on her face.

‘Thank you, Luffy. Thank you so much.’ Vivi thought to herself before she quickly went to help with Carina’s transport. “I just wish that I could do more myself.” She whispered under her breath, hating her own powerlessness.

-End Chapter-

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Carina got sick! Noooooo!!!

It takes roughly two days for any infection (even the most virulent ones) to overcome the human immune system when it’s in good health. So, nothing seemed amiss when the Straw Hats left Little Garden.

Thankfully, a certain jackass tyrant turned pirate made himself known and brought along twenty top-grade Doctors!

Too bad dipshit and his men picked the wrong targets to try and attack!

Every seen an angry monkey? Every seen a FERAL RAGE monkey? Ever seen a FERAL RAGE MAGICAL MONKEY GOD?!

The addition of Volcano Goddess Nami only ensured that no trace of Wapol and his crew remained in existence!

Is Wapol dead? Alive? The Straw Hats don’t know and don’t care!

With the Straw Hats arriving to Drum Island not as pirates, but civilians, will that effect how the people of Drum Island greet them?

Keep reading to find out!

Until next time, later!